Pre-School Years (3-5 Years Adjusted Age)

Welcome to the pre-school years, where each day is a new adventure in learning and growing! Help your child get ready for big-kid school by playing games that teach sharing, talking about feelings, and learning to follow routines. Together, you can explore new stories, count colorful blocks, and make friends through fun activities that build a love for learning and friendship.

Preparing for School Success

The pre-school years are a pivotal time for preparing your child for formal schooling. Focus on nurturing their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development through engaging activities. Encourage exploration and curiosity to foster a lifelong love for learning.

Social Development

Children born prematurely may exhibit greater immaturity in social interactions compared to their peers. Foster playdates with one other child to encourage social skills development, emphasizing concepts like taking turns (“my turn, your turn”). They may experience emotional lability and a need for movement or restlessness, which can be managed through structured activities and understanding.

Preterm children often need time to catch up in various developmental areas:

Catch-Up Development Order

Cognitive, Receptive Language, Motor Skills (Body): Children born prematurely often begin by catching up in cognitive abilities, receptive language (understanding spoken language), and motor skills (both gross and fine motor skills). Providing enriching environments and targeted interventions can help bridge these developmental gaps.
Expressive Language: Following cognitive and receptive language skills, expressive language (the ability to communicate thoughts and feelings) typically improves. This progression is supported through speech therapy and interactive communication activities.
Social and Attention Development: Social skills and sustained attention often mature later, typically emerging more fully after the age of 3. Encouraging positive social interactions and providing consistent parenting approaches help nurture these areas over time.

Discipline Strategies

Discipline involves guiding children towards appropriate behavior through consistent methods of teaching and correction. Children thrive on positive attention, such as praise and encouragement, which reinforces their good behavior. Even negative attention, like scolding, can inadvertently reinforce behavior by giving it attention, which is why minimizing negative reactions is important. Ignoring undesirable behavior can be effective in extinguishing it over time, as it removes the attention and reaction that reinforce the behavior.

Consistency in parenting approach means applying rules and consequences consistently, which helps children understand expectations and promotes stability in their behavior. Recognizing early signs of frustration or escalation in behavior allows caregivers to intervene proactively by offering distractions or redirecting attention to prevent undesirable outcomes. It’s crucial to avoid shaming children for misbehavior and instead focus on teaching and reinforcing desired behaviors positively, fostering a healthy environment for learning and growth.

The Triple P program and strategies from “The Explosive Child” can provide valuable guidance in managing challenging behaviors positively and effectively.

Establishing Routine and Structure

Help your child adjust to the structure of a school day by establishing consistent routines at home. Practice tasks such as getting dressed independently, following a daily schedule, and participating in group activities. Consistency in routines builds confidence and independence, preparing them for the school environment.